CHAPTER TWO

The True World

In their fear, they had barely noticed that they hadn't seen a single other person outside since they left Ib's house.

Ib had time to calm down, and now walked with Garry, clutching his arm. The two of them had no idea where to go or what to do; they wanted to rest and try and figure out what was happening, but going to Ib's house was no longer an option. Ib and Garry walked around for the better part of an hour, trying to find another living soul, to no avail. The shops were closed, the streets abandoned, the houses dark and lifeless. They decidedly hurried to Garry's apartment building, which was across town, but without having to deal with traffic or other people, they arrived surprisingly fast. The building was just as abandoned as the rest of town.

Garry's apartment was cold. It was usually warm, but the severe lack of humans also meant that the power in the building was off. Garry pulled all of his blankets out of the closets, and lit the stove with a match. He put some earl grey tea on, and sat down with Ib as she was getting herself under some blankets.

"All right," Garry started, trying hard to think. "Someone, or something, replaced your parents with... Well, wooden replicas, and suddenly this is a ghost town, if you'll forgive the term. I can't make heads or tails of this," he admitted. Ib hugged her knees under the blanket.

"I didn't realize it at the time, but I don't remember seeing anyone on the way back to my house. I was too tired." she said.

"Same," Garry said regretfully.

The two people sat silently in the apartment, both equally troubled and lost for a solution to their problem.

"What do we do now, Garry...?" Ib asked quietly, in a voice that nearly broke Garry's heart. Despite their seemingly grim situation, Garry smiled at Ib brightly. "I'm not sure... But we're together. We'll figure it out, I promise. We can rest tonight, and I bet everything will seem a lot more clear in the morning." he said with resolve. Ib offered him a small smile in return. "Okay."

Garry served some warm tea, and the two drank it gratefully. When Ib found her eyelids had become so heavy she couldn't keep them open, Garry suggested they rest. He offered Ib his bed and had decided to sleep on the floor, but Ib wasn't having it. Although Garry (rather red-faced) resisted initially, Ib finally convinced him to sleep next to her. Garry knew that no matter how brave Ib happened to be, no thirteen-year old would have wanted to sleep alone after the sights she had just endured.

"Are we really... The only ones left?" Ib sleepily asked as she began to drift into unconsciousness. Garry held her more closely; she could hear the comforting sound of his heart beating. "I don't know," Garry answered honestly. Ib's voice was faint. "... Don't... Disappear..." she said just as she relented to sleep.

The silence over the room hung in the air like a thick fog; Garry had never known a room to be so silent. The girl sleeping in his arms looked peaceful but sad, and her desperate request shook Garry to the core.

He had never felt so helpless before, or so filled with desire to protect someone. But could he really prevent something horrible from happening? He wasn't even sure what was happening himself. It appeared that everyone in town had disappeared... What was to stop Garry from disappearing, and leaving Ib all alone? Or worse, what if Ib vanished as well? Garry shut his eyes, holding onto Ib more tightly than before, as if his arms could prevent such a horror from occurring.

No, he had to stay positive. These thoughts weren't going to help either one of them. From the moment he had first met Ib in the museum, he knew he wanted to protect her. And he was determined to do just that, no matter what.

With this thought, Garry drifted off to sleep. With the last person in town asleep, the town was more quiet than it had ever been.

Ib was the first to awaken. She immediately looked for Garry, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw he was still with her, fast asleep. She had half-expected both of them to have vanished in the night, but she wasn't quite certain if that would have been a bad thing or not. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Ib shook Garry awake.

"Oh good," Garry said sleepily with a relieved smile, "you're still here. I was afraid you'd be gone. But it appears we're both still here, aren't we?."

Ib laughed. "I thought the same thing." she admitted.

Ib made her way off of the bed and opted to use Garry's facilities, to freshen up for whatever the day had in store. When she exited the bathroom, she saw Garry standing in front of the window with a look of intrigue. "What is it?" she asked him.

"It's just... Look. Do you see the morning light coming through the window? Do you see the buildings across the street?" he said, still looking out the window. Ib tilted her head and walked over to the window. "Yes."

"Look," Garry grabbed Ib's hand and placed it on the window. Ib didn't react at first, but slowly she realized what she felt; canvas. The window was made of canvas. The window was a painting, and it was so real and perfect that Ib could swear she saw the trees rustling in the breeze, and the rays of the morning sun passing through the panes and warming her face.

Garry touched the painting again as well. "I can't believe it... This has most certainly been a window, a real window, the entire time I've been living here. It could open and everything. How could..." he trailed off, at a loss for words. Ib frowned. "We should see what outside is like," she suggested.

Ib turned to head for the door, and almost ran headlong into a small table that had spontaneously appeared just behind them. Perched on the table was a vase with two roses inside; a red rose, and a blue rose.

The company stared at the table for a silent moment, filled with dread. "Is... That...?" came Garry's voice hesitantly. Ib carefully removed both roses from the vase, and extended the blue rose toward Garry. She sighed. "We'd better take these with us, I suppose."

With their roses, Ib and Garry exited the apartment building. What they saw, at this point, didn't entirely surprise them. The world had turned into a painting. The streetlights were merely 3-dimensional paintings, their fake lights blinking on and off again. The streets were crafted out of some sort of clay, and the houses that stood were just canvas with beautifully detailed house decor painted on. The trees were even painted, and they rustled quietly in the artificial breeze. The morning sky really was watercolor, painted with an array of gorgeous pastel shades. It was all very beautiful and awe-inspiring, to be sure, but Ib and Garry grew more worried by the minute.

"It seems we're in that fabricated world again, but it looks like our town." Garry said thoughtfully, kneeling down to touch a painted flower growing outside of someone's painted lawn. "The first time it looked like the museum, but this time it's... Everywhere. I haven't the slightest idea what's going on."

"Me either," Ib sighed. "But we have our roses again, so I suppose the same rules apply. But is this actually our world? The first time, we got in through a painting, 'Abyss of the Deep'. This time, it just sort of happened."

"I'm not sure," Garry said, shaking his head. He stood and took Ib's hand firmly in his own. "But let's find a way out. We got out the first time, we can get out again."

As the two of them walked, they couldn't help but be impressed by their detailed surroundings. From a distance, everything looked very much the same, it was just the atmosphere that had changed. But up close, the paintings, sculptures and creations that made up the world proved everything to be fake, no matter how detailed they were. They even passed their favorite dessert shop, and were surprised to find that they were able to open the door and enter. Their disappointment was unparalleled when they found that even the sweets and pastries were fakes, made of wax.

The two wandered aimlessly for the better part of the day. Ib's stomach was rumbling horribly, and Garry ignored his own protesting stomach to give Ib a piggyback ride so she could rest. Garry had the idea to head to the edge of town, to see just how far this distortion had spread, so they set off immediately. As the watercolor sky was darkening, they finally found themselves at the town's end, which was impassable due to a massive canvas blocking their way and stretching up into the sky. It seemed to block off all exits to town. Garry tried several times to break it or tear it; after some time, the effort proved useless. It seemed they were trapped in this strange world that had once been their town.

Exhausted and hungry, the two headed back. They decided that if this world was anything like the previous distorted world they had visited, there should be a painting to lead them back to their own world. They resolved to start searching houses and buildings for such a painting.

Ib's stomach growled again, and Garry glanced down at her with a sad frown. "How are you feeling? Do you need to rest?" he asked her worriedly. Ib flashed him an encouraging smile. "No, I'm fine."

Garry wasn't convinced, but he smiled back anyway. They continued down the street together, the street lights still flickering above them.

"At least we haven't run into any unpleasant statues, or had to run for our lives. It appears we're alone here." Garry commented, and Ib nodded.

"I don't think I'd have the energy to run for my life at the moment," she said with a laugh. Garry inwardly agreed.

"There's my apartment. I say we take a break there. We may even find some food in my apartment, that is, if they haven't already become wax. How is your rose?"

"Fine," Ib said, regarding her rose for a moment to check for signs of wilting. "I hope we find some food, though."

"Me t-" Garry's voice cut off suddenly, and Ib looked up from her rose. She gasped. They were now in Ib's entrance room, as if by magic. The two of them blinked confusedly for a moment. "Wha... What!" Garry exclaimed, pulling Ib closer to him protectively. "How did we get here?!"

Ib's heart thumped in her chest, but she took a deep breath and reminded herself that the eerie mannequins she had seen upstairs were not her parents, they were just twisted creations, just like the Lady in Red portraits and the headless women that had given them such trouble four years ago.

"We should look around for clues, while we're here." Ib suggested, and Garry looked down at her seriously. "Ib... I don't think that's safe."

"It will be okay. I know that those... Things... Up there, aren't my parents. This world is fake, just like the last one. But we should still check around." Ib answered calmly, and Garry sighed.

"I guess we should. But stay close to me, and don't let go of my hand." he instructed, and Ib nodded.

Ib glanced up the stairway and frowned. "Hey..." She pointed with her free hand at the painting that hung in the stairwell, 'Self-Portrait'. The frame was empty.

"That's worth investigating," Garry said uneasily, and the two climbed the stairs carefully to inspect the painting. Ib looked at it closely; it was exactly the same as before, just without its usual resident. Garry touched the painting experimentally, and to their mutual surprise, his hand went into the painting.

"Ib, look! This might be the way out!" Garry said, pulling his hand back out. Ib nodded. "But why would it be this painting? 'Self-Portrait'? Shouldn't it be a painting of our own world?" she asked. Garry regarded the painting. "I guess you're right," he admitted, "but this world is very different from that first one. This may be a gateway into your real house, in our real world."

He pondered for another moment. "Ah! I have it. I'll test it out, and make sure it's safe. You keep a hold of my hand, just in case I need to pull you in, or you need to pull me out."

"Are you sure?" Ib asked in concern. She didn't much care for the idea, even if it did have merit. "Promise to be careful?"

"Promise," Garry said with a smile.

Ib moved aside and Garry started to climb inside the painting. At that moment, a black, transparent hand shot out of the painting, its long sharp fingers grabbing Garry's coat and flinging him backwards. Garry hit the railing of the stairs hard, landing on his side. Ib tried to go to him, but the hand caught her from behind and pulled her close to the painting. Garry saw this and snarled in defiance. "Don't touch her!" he commanded, attempting to stand and free Ib; the ground began trembling violently then, and the stairs cracked just under Garry's feet.

"Garry!" Ib reached for his hand, but it had all happened too fast. As the monstrous arm held her tight, the ground beneath Garry broke away and sent him falling down into an inky black abyss. Her hand still outstretched and trembling, Ib didn't even get a chance to scream as she was pulled backward into the painting, and her house vanished from view.